The Madison Mallards power surge in 2009 has been an incredible jump from years past.

The Mallards have already shattered the team record for home runs in a season. They have hit 35 as of Friday night, 11 more than their previous record of 24 set back in 2003. Harold Riggins (NC State) has slugged seven home runs himself and is tied with Francois Larmore of Marshall from 2003 for most home runs in a single season by a Mallard. Riggins, Mark Ginther (Oklahoma St; 5) and Troy Channing (St. Mary’s; 5) have hit nearly half of the teams home runs. Ben Long (UW-Milwaukee), Adam McClain (Memphis), Kurtis Muller (Iowa) and Joe Patterson (Texas A&M) each have three homers apiece on the year making the Mallards lineup dangerous from top to bottom.

During the off-season the Mallards organization moved the bullpens to left-center and right-center field, which brought the outfield wall in 20 feet in both spots. The fence down the left-field line was brought in 12 feet, to 308 feet. The right-field line now reads 295 2/3. That was a big change from the cavernous 360 feet down both lines when the Mallards first moved into Warner Park in 2001. The changes were made to give fans a more intimate experience in the extremely popular “Duck Blind” all you can eat and drink section.

While the new dimensions have certainly played a role in the power surge Mallards Corporate Sales and PR Manager Jerrad Radocay believes it isn’t all due to the new dimensions.

“Yes, bringing the wall in has certainly helped, but this is a more powerful Mallards team this year and they’ve also hit a good number of balls over the old wall,” he said. “Guys like Harold Riggins and Troy Channing are more than capable of hitting the ball far out of any ballpark.”

With the new dimensions at Warner Park the Mallards have recruited a different type of team, built more with power than speed as in years past. I pitched twice against the Mallards 2004 NWL Championship team with the Alexandria Beetles, beating them in Alexandria and losing in Madison. All of the speed on that team made pitching against them very stressful. They stole 114 bases that year (Rochester led the league with 115) and hit just 17 home runs. In 2003 they stole the fifth most bases in league history (155).  The other aspect was the amount of ground their outfielders could cover. Opposing teams that came in with slower corner outfielders with power struggled as they were exposed in the large outfield and the balls they hit in the gaps were either run down by the Mallards outfielders or were doubles instead of home runs.

The 2009 Mallards have been still been successful with the new approach. They were right in the hunt for the first half title until a late slump allowed Eau Claire to pull away. They have started the second half hot and are tied for first with La Crosse at 5-2. If they hadn’t given up five runs in the top of the ninth Friday against Alexandria they would be in sole possession of first place. The pivotal matchup with the Beetles, who are also 5-2 and fighting for first place in the North, continues Saturday night at Warner Park.